For many people there is a need to see our world as broken and obesity is a highly visible expression of that desire.

But that's really incidental to the main thrust of the piece, a throat clearer, no more. What this really is about is the marvellous medical advances of the past few decades which, double-edged sword, have given so many more of us time to contract illnesses that medicine is still struggling with. Struggling, and winning. Winning slowly.

"In reality, embargoes allow journals, universities, nonprofits, and corporations to decide what’s important — and when. That should be up to journalists and, frankly, anyone who writes about science. Reporters, even with the best intentions, end up on the study-of-the-week treadmill, and they’re less creative because of the limitations of something called the Ingelfinger Rule, which scares researchers out of talking to them (more on that in a moment). Science, rather than appearing like a human enterprise, full of fits and starts in the never-ending search for knowledge, is expected to prove claims once a week, or even more frequently. And I think that’s bad for readers and viewers."